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LEBANON –  CAMPAIGN ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN- FORMER LEBANON PRESIDENT IS CAMPAIGN AMBASSADOR

 

It is a crucial step for the former President of the Lebanese Republic to willingly act as the ambassador of this national campaign launched by ABAAD. The national campaign, which is done under and in partnership with the International 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence campaign, runs from November 25 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) through December 10 (International Human Rights Day). The campaign is also in collaboration with a number of local and international agencies and organisations.

 

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Beirut, Lebanon – “Through Violence… Nobody comes out ahead. The ultimate responsibility is putting an end to violence against women.”

 

November 25, 2014 - ABAAD is launching its national campaign under the above slogan. This year’s campaign slogan carries ample weight. Its message holds concrete dimensions in the efforts to end violence against women and girls in Lebanon. The message defines “responsibility.” It strips “violence” of all “social privileges” related to it, especially the patriarchal domination of men over women. It sets indicators to eliminate violence through endorsing a commitment to the necessity of putting a stop to said violence; it therefore sets a framework of accountability.

 

“Through Violence… Nobody comes out ahead. The ultimate responsibility is putting an end to violence against women,” declared His Excellency Former Lebanese President General Michel Sleiman. This declaration, when made by the President, leads the contents of the message to portray responsibility and accountability to a highly tangible extent. It now sets indicators for “responsibility,” and an accountability framework. The President’s statement therefore holds three implications:

-          First, it means that ending violence is the responsibility of men in general, and decision-makers (on both the legislative and executive levels) in particular.

-          Second, it means that ending violence is also the responsibility of the Presidency of the Lebanese Republic as an executive authority.

-          Third, it means that matters related to violence against women should be turned into social, protective, and preventive policies.

 

The national campaign sheds light on the importance of sharpening the political will both to end violence against women, and to handle women’s issues in Lebanon in a more inclusive and sustainable manner. This means that the issue of violence against women needs to be taken out of the sole confines of women’s organisations, and must no longer be dealt with as a women’s issue exclusively.

 

Thus, it is a crucial step for the former President of the Lebanese Republic to willingly act as the ambassador of this national campaign launched by ABAAD. The national campaign, which is done under and in partnership with the International 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence campaign, runs from November 25 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) through December 10 (International Human Rights Day). The campaign is also in collaboration with a number of local and international agencies and organisations.

 

ABAAD asserts, through its 2014 media campaign, the importance of the role played by decision-makers in the collective responsibility of ending violence against women and girls in Lebanon. The campaign’s messages define responsibility from a perspective of the Lebanese state’s due diligence to end this violence through promoting preventive efforts against violence, protecting women, and providing specialised holistic services for women survivors of violence, as well as for perpetrators of violence.

ABAAD Founder and Director, Ms. Ghida Anani, affirms that “ending violence against women is a comprehensive community-based effort that must be exerted multilaterally, and on multiple layers. It is as much the responsibility of religious leaders as it is of politicians. It is the responsibility of each and every individual, both women and men. It is the responsibility of every civil society organisation that contributes to social profiling operations. And it is about time to turn promises and words into effective actions in protecting women and girls from all forms of violence

 

This year’s campaign includes thousands of billboards that will be dispersed throughout Lebanon, in addition to television and radio public service announcements, an online campaign, as well as tens of awareness raising and capacity building activities.

 

For more information on the campaign, please contact ABAAD’s Media Coordinator Mr. Mohamad Cheblak on +961 1 28 38 20 or +961 3 756 744.

To view the public service announcement, please follow this link: http://youtu.be/1UtSMGS4XYw

News and updates will be posted on ABAAD’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/abaadmena